Half Pints releases a new rarity or seasonal nearly every month now. Just last month they released Saison de la ceinture flechée. Now this month, on St Patrick's Day they released a Black IPA called Black Galaxy. It was originally known as Black Scrapper but it saw a name change for this years release. I would've never gotten to try this (let alone review it!) at all if it hadn't been for Chris, thanks man!

Black Galaxy is a Black IPA with 6.0% ABV, 60 IBU and uses Galaxy Hops out of Australia.

Appearance: Very dark, the body is nearly as dark as a porter or stout, but not as thick. Has a light red grape hue in the light. Nice amount of head with a beige/cookie dough light brown colour to it, creamy.

Aroma: Oh my eff. I have had a few Black IPAs in my day, namely Flying Monkeys' Netherworld. This one, aroma wise comes off much more of a "you know that this is in the India Pale Ale family" beer than Netherworld. Most Black IPAs seem to have a roasty near light porter aroma to it, but this - much much closer to an IPA. It has an amazing grapefruit citrusy aroma abundance in the Galaxy Hops. I'm drooling. My mom thinks it smells like coffee, but I just don't see it, either than a bit of a toasted malt aroma, that's not front and centre unlike most black IPAs.

Taste: If I had to live on one beer for the rest of my life, it would be fresh batches of Little Scrapper, easily. This beer, like Little Scrapper has an abundance of zing to it. If you're a fan of Scrapper, you will surely enjoy this. First thing that hits my tastebuds is the very grapefruity citrusy hops. I effing heart hops. There's also a bit of atoasty malts, just like what you'd expect in any other black IPA/lager. It leaves a bit of a bitter aftertaste that you're used to from drinking coffee.

Overall Thoughts: Half Pints' seasonals and rarities are always a hit (never a miss). The problem with that is that their releases are like Apple Store openings or Apple iPhone launches, wait in line for a few hours and hope you get the product you are dying to own. Due to this, it's incredibly hard to find. I'm not a big fan of having to travel to Winnipeg, BUT hey - there's a reason why Half Pints is considered one of the best breweries in Canada.. Half Pints made the first product that made me proud to be Manitoban (post Pic-a-Pop closure in 1990s). This beer is a winner as it has a great citrusy aroma (grapefruit) that you expect in anything IPA related from Half Pints, a very quality beer. I wish it was a beer that would come to the LCs, but demand by far outranks supply. The toasty malts, the grapefruit ZING from the Galaxy Hops (hey I don't even like grapefruit!) and the beautiful colour make it one of the best beers I've had since Demeter's Harvest. It has an ABV of 6.0% so you won't get buzzed unless you drink the entire bottle, share if possible! IBU of 60 and only comes in 650mL bottles.

From the label: "Pray that there's inteilligent life somewhere up in space."

This weekend I will finally be reviewing Half Pints' Saison de la ceinture fléchée, so look out!

Cody Lobreau

Welcome to BeerCrank.ca! I'm a bit obsessed about craft beer, especially Canadian craft beer so I mainly review Canadian beer but I love to try beer from all over the world as well. My goal is to help influence the casual beer drinker to go out and expand their beer palate one way or another. Feel free to send some feedback!
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